Kyoko Kawai PROGRAM DIRECTOR/COACH

Kyoko is a USA Triathlon Level 1 Certified Coach.  She joined the DC Tri Club in 2011 as a member of NTP. After she completed her first sprint distance triathlon (NTP graduation race), she has raced and finished wide range of triathlon races including Ironman 140.6 distance.  She has qualified to be a member of Team USA Triathlon to represent USA Triathlon Age Group and has competed Draft-Legal Sprint World Championship races since 2018.  She believes that NTP provided her a solid foundation and wants to give back to the program. 2023 NTP is her 8th year to serve in the NTP leadership team.   She also coaches DC Tri Club NoVa weekly track workout in Arlington, VA. 

Carlos Andino NTP CO-LEADER

Carlos joined the DC Tri Club in 2022 as a member of NTP. Carlos came from a back ground of competitive running for more than a decade, running at the Division I level in college. However, Carlos struggled with the swimming aspect of multi-sports. After failing to complete his first triathlon, Carlos joined the DC Tri Club, managing to gain a lot more confidence in the swim and completing three olympic triathlons in his first year.

Julie Billingsley NTP CO-LEADER

Julie is a USA Triathlon coach and masters swim coach.  She was a collegiate swimmer who went on to start racing triathlons approximately a million years ago.  She has a new goal of completing a triathlon in every state — which will take several more years to accomplish.  Julie joined the DC Tri Elite team last year and acts as liaison between NTP and the Elite team.  One of her favorite spots is on a pool deck helping triathletes become relaxed and efficient swimmers.

Anne Ellyse Kania NTP CO-LEADER  

Anne Ellyse (pronounced “An Elise”) is a recent NTP graduate from the class of 2022. With a ballet and yoga background, she was not your typical triathlete- but thanks to DC Tri Club she has now completed both an olympic and a sprint distance triathlon, as well as a half ironman relay. She is happiest when moving, and also thoroughly enjoys all of the time in green spaces that triathlon training affords her. While she is not the first to cross the finish line, she IS the first one to point out wildlife to her friends on long rides and runs! Having recently gone through the NTP program herself, she is thrilled to be supporting an incoming class of athletes!

Megan Johnson NTP CO-LEADER

Megan completed her first triathlon in 2012 in Kenya.  Without any training and while riding a steel bike, she was passed by a farmer hauling wheat on his bike – he was wearing flip flops!  In 2015 she graduated from NTP and now bikes faster than most farmers.  Megan has completed dozens of Sprint and Olympic distance races, 9 half ironmans and 1 full Ironman.  Megan comes from a swimming background and has previously coached youth age swimmers.  She has organized triathlons in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Islamabad, Pakistan.

Ian McDonough NTP CO-LEADER

Ian returned to the exciting world of triathlon in 2017 and joined the DC Tri Club in 2021. He has completed the Patagonman Xtri, Ironman Maryland, six half Ironmans, and a handful of sprint and olympic races, but still manages to learn something new at every event. A self-described “swammer” (reformed swimmer), Ian also plays water polo with the Washington DSeahorses and is a yoga teacher. When not out running on the mall, he enjoys coffee, wine, and naps (depending on the time of day).

Catharine Myung NTP CO-LEADER

Catharine joined the DC Tri Club in 2011 as a member of NTP. She also started the DC Tri Club Masters Swim program because she the level of swimming she did before NTP was on par with swimming up to the pool bar and not dying when someone threw her into the pool. Now she’s a level 2 US Masters Swim certified coach and enjoys helping everyone find their inner mermaid or merman. Catharine is also one of the leads of the DC Tri Club’s Slow2Mod group, and a member of our MOCO group. Hey – the rules say that athletes are allowed to crawl to the finish line. And that she did for her Half Ironmans, marathons, and various other distances.

Rebecca Na NTP CO-LEADER

Rebecca joined the DC Tri Club as a member of NTP Class 2022. She completed her first Olympic distance triathlon in that same year. She has been passionate about Olympic weightlifting and anaerobic sports for the last five years. The lack of aerobic exercise made climbing stairs hard and contributed to blood test results that threatened the quality of life. She decided to challenge herself in a whole new way, and with the help of NTP, the triathlon was it. She loves and wants to help new triathletes experience the reward of overcoming difficulties of crossing the finish line. When she is not training, she enjoys cafes with friends, summiting peaks, and volunteering at the cat shelter.

Lauren Pittenger NTP CO-LEADER

Lauren joined DC Tri in 2017 after relocating to the DC Metro area from Atlanta, but began her triathlon career in 2010 when she decided on a whim to buy a bike and sign up for Augusta 70.3. Since then she has completed 4 full Ironman triathlons and too many 70.3’s to keep track of. She is an alumni of the DC Tri HIM program and Masters Swim  and is looking forward to getting back to training with other people after the past two years.

Glenn Thomas NTP CO-LEADER

Glenn joined the DC Tri Club in the fall of 2014 and signed up for his first triathlon in order to learn how to swim laps at the pool.  He said “I figured that learning how to swim in open water would make swimming in a pool easy–oh how little I knew about learning to swim. I currently race the Olympic distances and have gone to USAT Age Group Nationals several times. Last year’s race in Milwaukee was probably my most enjoyable race and looking forward to going back to swim in Lake Michigan again. I truly embrace multi-sportism so in addition to swim-bike-run, I like to mountain bike, rock climb, ski both alpine and nordic, and want to take up biathlon soon since its gotta be easier–its one less event eh?”